C3G Strategy - April 2017

Left Box BreakdownSpecies – HumanUniqueness – Unique HeroClass – ArcherPersonality – CockySize/Height – Large 5
Being a unique human hero is pretty average for C3G. Human status brings some minor benefits, but nothing that’s particularly notable for Hawkeye. A class of “Archer” ties Hawkeye into a few different special powers. The first is Merlyn’s Archer Rivalry, the second is Speed Shot on Roy Harper in both his guises, and the third is The Brave and the Bold on Batman (III). Hawkeye’s size is probably the largest thing working in his favor (pun intended). Large figures are a rarity in C3G, and being large means Hawkeye isn’t affected by a host of special powers that work only on small and medium figures.

Statistics BreakdownLife – 4Move – 5Range – 9Attack – 4Defense – 5Points – 160
With the exception of excellent range that only a handful of units can match, Hawkeye’s statistics are largely unexceptional, and he comes at a fairly low price. His movement is significantly bolstered by his Flying special power.

Powers BreakdownSKYCYCLE CARRYBefore moving, you may choose a tiny, small or medium Common or Unique Hero you control adjacent to Hawkeye. The chosen figure becomes the Skycycle Passenger. After moving, place the Skycycle Passenger adjacent to Hawkeye. The Skycycle Passenger will take any leaving engagement attacks.

This is essentially the Carry that all readers are certainly familiar with, but comes with a few tweaks. Hawkeye can only carry heroes you control, can carry tiny figures, and can also carry engaged figures, providing you’re willing to risk some leaving engagement attacks. Notably, Skycycle Carry also introduces some language so that the carried figure (aka the “skycycle passenger”) can be easily referred back to further down the card.

HAWKEYE’S ORDERSAfter revealing an Order Marker on this card, moving normally with Hawkeye and placing the Skycycle Passenger, instead of attacking with Hawkeye, you may take a turn with the Skycycle Passenger.

And here’s the pay-off. Hawkeye’s ability to move a figure before you take a turn with it is the centerpiece of his card.

SKY SHOT SPECIAL ATTACKRange 5. Attack 3.Figures roll 2 fewer defense dice when defending against this special attack. After Hawkeye attacks with this special attack, he may use Skycycle Carry and move up to 3 spaces. When Hawkeye moves with this special attack, he will not take any leaving engagement attacks.

Sky Shot isn’t a go-to, since your turns with Hawkeye are often going to be taken with the intent of setting up the skycycle passenger for a turn with Hawkeye’s Orders, but it’s a nice contingency option. As a special attack that subtracts defense dice, it can bypass a lot of tricky defensive powers, and the movement aspect is helpful for getting Hawkeye adjacent to potential skycycle passengers before your next turn starts.

FLYING

Flying is definitely huge to Hawkeye’s movement and ability to mobilize other figures. Doesn’t need a lot of talking about, though.

In Depth Analysis

SurvivabilityBetween his mobility and his range, Hawkeye has a pretty easy time picking his spots early on, settling on high ground or out of sight of enemy snipers. Combined with his 5 defense, that means he doesn’t usually get picked off too quickly. This is particularly nice, as it means you can count on him to help mobilize your army early on. However, 4 life and no defensive powers often means that once he attracts the attention of the enemy’s big guns, he’s in trouble. But by that time, Hawkeye may have already fulfilled his purpose.

OffenseA nice special attack and excellent range on his normal attack mean that when you do end up attacking with Hawkeye, he can usually pick a good target and get a wound or two in. This is especially true if you can get him to some high ground (which isn’t very hard, since he’s a flying sniper) and/or you’re playing him with a figure that can boost his normal attack, like the particularly thematic Captain America. That said, I usually find that I only end up attacking with him if he’s unexpectedly unable to carry a passenger, or if he’s managed to outlive most of the rest of his army. There’s also the odd occasion, usually very early in the game, when he’s just moved and placed the skycycle passenger, and the passenger isn’t in good enough position to want to take a turn with Hawkeye’s Orders, but Hawkeye’s absurd range lets him take a potshot at an enemy figure.

StrategyOf course, Hawkeye’s most valuable assets don’t fit neatly into “offense” or “survivability.” He provides a unique combination of mobility and order marker flexibility at a pretty low price point. There are some possibilities worth touching on within the bounds of his archer synergy; he can play nicely with either Speedy or Red Arrow, especially if you’re running with a normal attack booster or two. The combination of mobility, range, and attack bonding is fairly fearsome. Running Hawkeye as part of a Justice League build with Batman (III) isn’t a bad idea, and fellow Archer Red Arrow fits into that army neatly as well. Hawkeye provides some order marker flexibility for Batman, and Batman’s League Contingency Plan provides some order marker insurance, which is a nice bonus for Hawkeye, who definitely wants some order markers, but doesn’t have any defensive powers to keep himself around. If you build around Batman and Hawkeye, you’ll want to make sure you get a couple of figures with really good d20 powers for the remaining portion of your army, in order to take advantage of Batman’s d20 boosts.

But Hawkeye’s best team-ups aren’t necessarily the ones that focus in on his archer class; he shines brightest when you can really leverage the nature of Hawkeye’s Orders. Just about any unit likes having its threat range extended, and snipers particularly like the opportunity to get deployed to height before taking a turn (which of course dovetails neatly with his Red Arrow synergy again), but some figures benefit more than others. Figures that are slow or have powers that are particularly hard to set up will like Hawkeye the most.

Angstrom Levy’s ability to automatically kick an opponent off the battlefield is tempered by his ground-pounding status and his move of 5, but he gets a whole lot scarier when Hawkeye can fly him right into position. The SHIELD Sniper can’t move and attack non-adjacent figures in the same turn, but team her up with Hawkeye and she’s getting dropped on height before her turn even starts, so she can sit in place like a good sniper and attack whoever she darn well pleases. Powers with limited range that trigger before moving like Meteorite’s Manipulation or Purple Man’s Pheremone Control also start looking a lot easier to pull off when Hawkeye’s in town.

Whatever kind of army you build around Hawkeye, the main thing you want to keep in mind once he’s taken the field is that he likes to stay close to your other units. Keeping him adjacent to more than one hero gives you more flexibility. Teaming him up with some tag-along units like Atom and Kid Flash is a good way of giving yourself extra options if your intended passenger gets destroyed or otherwise prevented from being carried. They can also provide some obstruction to keep enemies off Hawkeye’s back. If you’re not using Hawkeye as an offensive threat with a Speed Shot buddy, you probably want him to be able to hang back just a little from the main fighting, and be ready to drop a key unit into position.

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